o a question between them and Atahualpa there
could be but one decision. Pizarro opposed, but the army insisted, and
at last he had to yield. Yet even then, when the enemy might come at any
moment, he insisted upon a full and formal trial for his prisoner, and
saw that it was given. The court found Atahualpa proven guilty of
causing his brother's murder, and of conspiring against the Spaniards,
and condemned him to be executed that very night. If there were any
delay, the Indian army might arrive in time to rescue their war-captain,
and that would greatly increase the odds against the Spaniards. That
night, therefore, in the plaza of Caxamarca, Atahualpa was executed by
the garrote; and the next day he was buried from the Church of St.
Francis with the highest honors.

Again the Peruvians were taken by surprise, this time by the death of
Atahualpa. Without the direction of their war-captain and the hope of
rescuing him, they found themselves hesitating at a direct attack upon
the Spaniards. They stayed at a safe distance, burning villages and
hiding gold and other articles which might "give comfort to the enemy;"
and upon the whole, though the immediate danger had been averted by the
execution of the war-captain, the outlook was still extremely ominous.
Pizarro, who did not understand the Peruvian titles better than some of
our own historians have done, and in hope of bringing about a more
peaceful feeling, appointed Toparca, another son of Huayna Capac, to be
war-captain; but this appointment did not have the desired effect.

It was now decided to undertake the long and arduous march to Cuzco, the
home and chief town of the Inca tribe, of which they had heard such
golden stories. Early in September, 1533, Pizarro and his army--now
swelled by Almagro's force to some four hundred men--set out from
Caxamarca. It was a journey of great difficulty and danger. The narrow,
steep trails led along dizzy cliffs, across bridges almost as difficult
to walk as a hammock would be, and up rocky heights where there were
only foot-holes for the agile llama. At Xauxa a great number of Indians
were drawn up to oppose them, intrenched on the farther side of a
freshet-swollen stream. But the Spaniards dashed through the torrent,
and fell upon the savages so vigorously that they presently gave way.

In this pretty valley Pizarro had a notion to found a colony; and here
he made a brief halt, sending De Soto ahead with a scouting-party of
s